I have been trying to root some garlic cloves by suspending them over an aluminium foil dish containing tap water.  After a day or so, pin prick holes surrounded by dull spots appear in the bottom of the dish and the water leaks away.  What's coming out of the garlic and corroding the aluminium?  A control dish containing just water is unaffected.

I suffer from nasal polyps which makes me more inclined to get sinus infections.  I've chosen not to have them removed surgically (at least for the moment), so I've been trying to deal with them with medication, but the sinus infections are a pain.  

My doctor has told me that antibiotics are not reckoned to be effective for sinus infections.  I have done my own research and experimented with various ideas and so far the most effective thing seems to be eating raw garlic, which I crush (to ensure that the cell walls are ruptured and allicin is produced) and then eat within a couple of hours.  

The biggest problem is that I can't manage this for more than a few days and every time I try it my tongue feels like I have burnt it all over for about a week after I stop.  It is extremely painful for quite some time.  While I eat the garlic it is very painful as well, but I can put up with that and get through it.  I have great difficulty in swallowing something without chewing thoroughly first, which probably doesn't help matters.  

I'm wondering whether the sulfenic acid (or possibly other acids) is burning my tongue and I have considered the idea of neutralising it with eg. sodium bicarbonate, but I'm a little nervous that this may cause a chemical reaction which will create something poisonous or neutralise the positive effects (and it really doesn't sound appetising).  

I'm curious to see what different ideas people may have from different disciplines and possibly personal experience?

I made a salad dressing with olive oil, apple cider vinegar, garlic cloves chopped into halves, fresh ginger, mixed herbs and mustard powder. When the dressing was finished I put a lidded jar of it in the fridge, and two days later topped it up again with fresh ingredients.

The following day the garlic from the original batch had turned bright blue. Why?

Ellice Bourke, Katherine, Northern Territory, Australia

the effect can happen up to 2 hours after eating at least 1 glove of garlic and leaves the surface my tongue feeling raw and burny.